


How Could You

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-28
Updated: 2008-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-19 20:24:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12417513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: Harry's getting married, but not to the lovely Ginny.  Read and find out how Ginny takes this, and if Harry really does get married!  There will be a sequel to this.





	How Could You

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**Well, this is my first ever story for The Unknowable Room, and I’m really excited to hear about how you like it.**

 

“Gin, can I talk to you for a bit?”� asked Harry. Ginny followed Harry to her room curiously. He didn’t seem to be acting like himself…actually; it had been weeks since he acted like his regular self. 

 

“So…”� said Ginny once Harry shut the door. “What did you want to tell me?”�

 

“You do remember that we broke up about…maybe a year ago, right?”� asked Harry nervously.

 

“How could I forget,”� said Ginny. That night still gave her nightmares, each one harsher than the last.

 

 

_“Ginny, can I talk to you real quick?”� asked Harry. Ginny shrugged._

_“I can’t really disagree to that, can I?”� asked Ginny, kissing Harry, but she noticed something was missing in the kiss. Something…important, that just somehow made her day…special._

_When they made it to his room, Harry shut the door. The room was so familiar to her, since she was in it practically every day._

_“I know we’ve been going out for…about maybe two years, right?”� asked Harry. Ginny nodded slowly, not having a clue where this whole thing was going._

_“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Ginny, alright?”� asked Harry seriously, and Ginny was starting to fear what he was about to say. She wanted to stop him, to do something so he would stop speaking, to never continue this conversation again. She tried to kiss him, but he pushed her away._

_“Ginny Weasley, listen to me!”� Harry yelled. “Just give me a minute to say what I need to say!”�_

_“No! Don’t continue! Shut up!”� screamed Ginny, tears filling her eyes. How could he be doing this to her?_

_“Things are…just not working between…us. I think maybe we should…stop seeing each other,”� Harry whispered._

_“NO!”� screamed Ginny. “Harry James Potter, how can you possibly think of doing this to me! After all we’ve been through!”�_

_“Ginny, I know this is hard for you, but…”�_

_“Tell me one reason why us isn’t working for you!”�_

_“I just don’t have the feeling that I was looking for! Really, Ginny, I thought you were the one when I was eighteen, but now I just don’t think this whole thing is working out!”�_

_“So what do you expect? To just leave me here!”�_

_“Of course not! I’m not ordering you to get the hell out of my life! We can still be friends and all, but…”�_

_“But I want to be MORE than just friends, Harry! I want to be…a couple!”�_

_“Well, Ginny, it takes two people to be a couple. I’m just…done.”�_

_“What have I ever done to you?”�_

_“For the LAST TIME! I just don’t think this whole thing is working out! You should just go…find other guys, I’m not the only one on earth!”�_

_“You’re my only guy on earth, though, Harry! Every time we kiss, I feel like I’m on top of this world! You can’t leave me!”�_

_“I’m sorry, Gin,”� said Harry sadly. “But I’m going to have to.”� He went out the door, and Ginny screamed at his back._

_“IF THIS IS FOR SOME NOBAL THING, LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING! VOLDEMORT IS DEAD, AND THE DEATH EATERS ARE IN AZKABAN!”�_

_Harry just left the room, shutting the door behind him, and Ginny broke down. She fell down on her knees and sobbed. She had to have cried for hours until she finally fell asleep, on the floor, a piece of her heart gone. The piece Harry had killed in her._

 

 

“Anyway,”� Harry continued, and Ginny was brought back into the present. “You know who Eliza is, don’t you?”�

 

“Harry, don’t ask me stupid questions that you know the answer to, if you don’t mind,”� said Ginny irritably, not wanting to have to think of any more memories of the terrible past.

 

“Well, it’s been eight months since we’ve been going out, and…well, I think she’s the one.”� Ginny’s heart stopped. Harry and Eliza had been going out for eight months, and he was now telling Ginny that she was the one. He and Ginny had been going out for two years and they had broken up, ruining Ginny’s life.

 

“What do you mean that she’s the one?”� asked Ginny. 

 

“Well,”� said Harry nervously. “I…last night I…we had gone to a nice place to eat. While there, I asked…I asked her if she would marry me.”� Ginny swayed on the spot. She hadn’t thought he had actually asked to marry Eliza. She thought they were just going to the next level, the one he and Ginny had left on.

 

“So…what did she say to that?”� was all Ginny could manage to get out. 

 

“She said…yes,”� a smile broke out on Harry’s face at the thought, a thought that would probably always make him smile, for the rest of his life. Ginny, however, did not smile at all.

 

“So you and her are getting married.”�

 

“Yes.”�

 

“When?”�

 

“Well, I asked her about two weeks ago, and I already told the Weasleys at dinner. Where were you then?”�

 

“Doing something,”� Ginny quickly lied. Even though she and Harry had made an uneasy friendship, she had never come to like Eliza. She thought of Eliza almost as…someone who stole someone very important to her. This was true, for Ginny would die for Harry.

 

“Yeah, but we’re having the wedding…tomorrow,”� said Harry. “And so, Mrs. Weasley insisted that everyone would be coming. I wanted to make sure to tell you so you wouldn’t think that I kept this all away from you.”�

 

“Why do you think I would think that, Harry?”� asked Ginny, still trying to take it all in. _This time tomorrow would be when Harry would never be mine. He would be married, and I won’t be able to anything about it._

 

“People’s minds work in mysterious ways,”� was all Harry could say, but he grinned all the same. 

 

“Oh.”�

 

“So, the wedding is tomorrow at noon. Will you be there?”�

 

“No.”� The sad look on Harry’s face almost crushed Ginny’s heart, but she didn’t want to come to a wedding to see the love of her life get marred to a girl she pretty much hated. 

 

“How…how come?”� asked Harry sadly. 

 

Ginny didn’t know what made her say it, but she said it anyway. “I’ll let you know if I can make it, is that alright?”� The look on Harry’s face brightened a little.

 

“Will you be able to tell me later tonight?”� Harry’s expression was now hopeful.

 

“Yes.”� Ginny just made a promise she knew would be hard to keep, but a promise was a promise.

 

“Great, I’ll be in my room with Eliza,”� said Harry, and before he left, he muttered, “Knock before coming in, if you don’t mind.”� Winking, he left the room, closing the door behind him. Ginny stood there for a bit, then threw herself on her bed and cried her eyes out once more. 

 

Harry was getting married. She should have seen it coming. She should have found someone to at least make him a bit jealous. But no, he broke up with her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

 

The door opened, and Ginny looked up to see Hermione come in. When she saw that Ginny was crying, she shut the door and walked over. Without a word, Ginny embraced Ginny. Ginny didn’t pull back.

 

“I’m guessing you heard the news,”� said Hermione in a low voice. “I expected to find you here in this…state.”�

 

“How could he be doing this to me,”� said Ginny, not expecting an answer.

 

“Ginny, I know you love him, but you need to move on. You need to just let go of him and get on with life. You can’t just continue life like this, crying every time you see Harry and Eliza together. What if they have kids?”� Ginny cried even harder into Hermione’s shoulder.

 

“What have I done to him?”� she choked through tears. Hermione had had enough, though.

 

“Ginny Weasley, listen to me!”� said Hermione, pulling away from the hug and looking at Ginny straight in the eye. “You will stop crying and live life, understand? It will be better for both you and Harry. One day Harry’s going to catch you crying over him, and he’ll feel very guilty!”� Ginny stopped crying and looked at Hermione.

 

“He’ll do something stupid, just to get you to stop. He might hurt himself, like breaking up with Eliza!”� Ginny looked at the floor. “If you really love him, then you’ll let him continue with life, and you’ll continue with life, understand?”� Ginny nodded. Somehow Hermione’s talk made Ginny feel a bit better. Not much, but a bit.

 

“Are you going to the wedding?”� asked Hermione.

 

“I promised Harry that I’d let him know later tonight,”� said Ginny, her voice stronger.

 

“Well, I really do hope you will, because you’ll break his heart if you don’t come. He thinks of you as one of his best friends, and the least you could do is be one.”� Ginny nodded.

 

“Okay, then, I’ll go tell him now that I’m going.”� Hermione smiled.

 

“That’s the spirit,”� said Hermione. “Plus, Mrs. Weasley would blame the absence of you on Ron, seeing that she somehow always blames stuff like this on him.

 

“Tell me why that’s bad again?”� Hermione and Ginny laughed.

 

“Be sure to bring your humor with you, alright?”� said Hermione. “You’re the life of a party!”�

 

“I’ll be sure to do that!”� Just before Hermione got up to leave, Ginny grabbed Hermione’s hand. 

 

“Thanks for helping…me,”� said Ginny. Hermione smiled. 

 

“What are friends for?”�

 

“I’m going to quick go wash my face before going to tell Harry that I’ll be coming to his wedding,”� said Ginny, following Hermione out of to go to the bathroom. Hermione nodded, then went off back downstairs to help Mrs. Weasley prepare for the wedding.

 

Once Ginny’s face was clean, she went to Harry’s room and was sure to knock. A few moments passed, then a muffled, “One sec,”� came. Ginny waited. She heard the sound of apparition, and then Harry came and opened the door.

 

“Oh, hey Ginny,”� he greeted cheerfully. “Have your answer about coming to the wedding?”� Ginny nodded.

 

“I’ll be able to come,”� she said in an unconfident voice, but it was enough for Harry.

 

“Oh, that’s great!”� said Harry happily, his eyes sparkling. “Thank you so much, I really know tomorrow will be great!”�

 

Depends on whom you ask, Ginny thought to herself, but managed to smile.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then!”� said Harry. Ginny nodded, and went back off to her room to go to bed, still not believing she hadn’t burst out crying right in front of Harry at that time. Tomorrow was going to drag on like Christmas Eve night…forever.

 

 

The house woke up bright and early. Mrs. Weasley had made sure Harry and Eliza slept in separate rooms that night, so not so wake up and see each other. Mrs. Weasley wanted to make sure Harry and Eliza didn’t see each other until right before they were about to get married.

 

Eliza’s parents (Mr. and Mrs. McMillan) came before the wedding had gotten prepared. Eliza’s mum and dad were both…um…magical, so they wouldn’t be surprised by all the magic Mrs. Weasley was doing to prepare for the big day. 

 

Mrs. McMillan would help Eliza put her dress on, while Mr. McMillan would do his best to make sure everything was ready outside. He was accompanied by Mr. Weasley, Remus Lupin, how was also there to help out, Fred, and George.

 

Hermione and Ginny were upstairs getting their dresses on, while Ron was with Harry making sure he was okay. Harry was indeed very nervous, and kept on making up things that he thought Eliza might do.

 

“What if she says she doesn’t want to marry me at the last minute,”� Harry muttered. Ron once again had to reassure Harry that everything would be all right.

 

“She would have probably said something last night when you two were shagging,”� said Ron, and Harry blushed. 

 

“Who told you?”�

 

“Doesn’t matter, hurry up and try and make your hair a bit straighter.”�

 

 

“Mum, what if he says no at the last minute,”� Eliza muttered to her mum. Mrs. McMillan rolled her eyes. 

 

“Honey, I’m pretty sure he would have said something by now, wouldn’t you think so?”�

 

“Maybe, but…”�

“Stop fussing about things that won’t happen. Hurry up and finish washing your hair, I need to comb it!”�

 

 

“I just can’t believe he’s getting married today,”� said Ginny, almost sadly. (Okay, not almost sadly, but sadly.)

 

“Get over it Ginny,”� said Hermione. “You should at the least be happy for him, whether you like it or not.”�

 

“That’s going to be hard,”� muttered Ginny. “Seeing that I’m not happy in the slightest about this mess. Maybe McMillan will say no.”�

 

“Ginny Weasley!”� snapped Hermione. “You should be ashamed of yourself for thinking that!”�

 

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,”� said Ginny quickly, but Hermione still made sure to take extra time with the hair brush, purposely making Ginny have to go downstairs to get a new one.

 

 

“Well, mate, all we can do now is go down there,”� said Ron. Harry had finally cooled down a bit when he got to the point of ‘What if Eliza turns out to be a spy?’ 

 

“I guess you’re right,”� said Harry, taking a deep breath. “Let’s go.”�

 

 

“Oh my gosh, I just can’t believe you’re going to be married!”� said Mrs. McMillan, dabbing at her eyes. 

 

“This is the seventh time you’ve said that!”� said Eliza.

 

“I guess I should just start believing this whole thing. Ready to go down?”�

 

“You bet I am.”�

 

 

“Well, might as well get this over with,”� said Ginny to herself. Hermione had left Ginny after all the repeated ‘How can he be doing this to me,’ from Ginny. “Here we go, then.”�

 

 

The wedding was outside, and the sun was so far shining beautifully. Harry looked up in the sky, and he wasn’t even thinking about Ginny. He did not regret what he had done to her. He loved Eliza, and would do anything for her protection. Taking another deep breath, he waited for the music to start, and for his to-be wife to become his wife.

 

 

Ginny thought Harry looked amazing. He hadn’t even seen her yet, but she saw his eyes sparkling in the sunlight as he looked down the aisle, waiting for Eliza to come down. Ginny didn’t feel like talking to anyone, just in case she burst out crying. 

 

She didn’t think she looked to bad herself. Her dress was long and golden, and her hair was wavy and down to her lower back. She also had a ruby necklace on; one that Harry had given her about a year ago. 

When she heard the usual wedding music start to play, she took a deep breath and found a seat between Ron and Hermione.

 

 

Harry gasped, he couldn’t help it. He was Eliza coming down the red-carpeted aisle. She was beautiful, he while dress, blonde hair, brown eyes, and slender body. He had to have been the luckiest man on earth to be here, about to get to this angel that had said yes to him.

 

When Eliza to-be-Potter made it next to Harry, she slid her hand into his. Mr. Weasley himself started his “wedding speech”� but Harry didn’t hear any of it, and it wasn’t until Eliza nudged Harry when Harry surfaced. He knew it was time.

 

 

“Eliza,”� said Harry. “I can remember about eight months ago, when I first met you. I don’t know about you, but it was a first sight to me. Well, maybe I saw your behind before I saw you, but I still thought it was love at first sight.”� The crowd laughed, and Ginny scowled. “Months went by, and I just fell in love with you. You don’t know how happy I was when you said yes. I nearly wet myself.”� More laughter from the crowd, while tears filled Ginny’s eyes. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that you’re the love of my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, Eliza McMillan.”�

 

“Harry,”� began Eliza. “When I saw the look on your face when I said yes after you’d marry me, I thought you might have cried. I know I did, and…well, I’m terrible with these kinds of speeches when someone as gorgeous as you is standing in front of me, giving me pressure.”� The crowd laughed. “I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you…and only you.”� A tear slipped from both Eliza and Ginny’s eyes.

 

“Anyone who does not agree with this couple, say so,”� said Mr. Weasley. Ginny didn’t know what came over her, but suddenly, it spilled out of her.

 

“HOW COULD YOU, HARRY???”� The crowd gasped at Ginny’s sudden out burst. Ginny quickly ran into the house. 

 

“Eliza, I’ll be right back,”� muttered Harry, then ran after Ginny.

 

“Ginny?”� Harry said, and he found Ginny on the living room couch, crying harder than he ever saw her cry before. “Gin?”�

 

“W-Why did you c-come?”� Ginny choked out angrily. “G-go back and l-leave me here. I-I no you w-want t-t-to.”� Harry shook his head.

 

“Not until I find out what’s wrong.”�

 

“What’s wrong?!?!”� yelled Ginny angrily, jumping up off the couch to glare at Harry. “You left me! I don’t think I’m just going to just live normal life after what you did to me!”�

 

“Ginny, I told you, being with you just wasn’t working out for me!”� Harry yelled back. “I thought you understood!”�

 

“Yeah, well you know how much pain you give me when I see you and Eliza be together?”� screamed Ginny. “A lot, Potter!”�

 

“You’re not the boss of who I get married to, are you?”�

 

“I don’t even know how I was ever attracted to you!”� screamed Ginny. “Go out there and get married, see if I give a damn!”�

 

“FINE!”� Roared Harry. “I will!”� He stomped out the house, and was sure to walk out casually so no one thought there was a fight in there. This was it…Ginny and him would never be friends again. He would get married, move away, have kids, and grow up without her. 

 

When Ginny glanced out the window, she saw Harry kiss Eliza, making Eliza McMillan officially Eliza Potter. Ginny broke down and sobbed once again. She had just lost the man she loved, and no matter what anyone said, she would love Harry Potter, for the rest of her life.

 

 

**Yes, I know it’s not the ending everyone’s used to reading, but I wanted to do a bit of a change. Thanks for reading, and I really don’t know if I should continue this with a part two or something. When reviewing, if you have time, please give me advice on if I should make a part two, or keep it the same. Thanks again!**


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